Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia

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Today I’m posting on the Blog Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia, where us authors and reviewers from GLBT book community are coming together to educate on hate and offer prizes. It’s all in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia on May 17th.

Dictionary.com defines ignorance as:
the state or fact of being ignorant; lack of knowledge, learning, information, etc.

This is how I think of homophobia and transphobia. Both come about when people who don’t know the facts make judgements about our personal lives based on their assumptions and gut feelings.

It’s not a hard thing to learn about, and we all have something to learn.  Perhaps you know a lot about gay men, but nothing about the trans* community. Perhaps you’re gay, but know little to nothing about what it means to be bisexual. Whether LGBT or a straight ally, we’re all capable of ignorance if we close our eyes.

I have to admit that when I came to the LGBT writing community, I knew little about the experience of being trans*. Thanks to reading the blog entries of some brave people who put themselves out there, I’ve learned a lot more about the challenges and trials that trans* people face. Opening my mind to new possibilities only helped me expand my understanding of the infinite combinations that love can take.

It’s never too late to learn about someone else’s lifestyle. When you do, perhaps you’ll realize you might have said something in the past that was rude/hurtful and you didn’t even know it. By taking the time to read a few webpages, you can remove that ignorance and perhaps make a positive comment that will make someone feel loved and respected as a human being. At the end of the day, on our most basic level, we all have that in common.

Here are some great links for learning about the LGBT community:

Embrace The Rainbow: Great site for learning about trans*, genderqueer and those questioning their identity. Make sure to check out their “Learning More” page, where some great blog posts explain the fundamentals of the trans* experience.

PFLAG has some friendly education pages including Straight For Equality, a program where straight allies can show their support for the GLBT community.

Myth and Reality: Some Facts about the LGBT Community A FAQ page that debunks some common myths about homosexuality.

BiNet USA To learn more about the bisexual community.

witssite

Now, for prizes! I’m giving away a digital copy of Written In The Stars, a space opera m/m romance set during a time of extreme ignorance and war. All you have to do to win is make a comment on this post that includes your e-mail address. The deadline for entries is 8 p.m. (EST) on May 27th. The winner will be chosen randomly and the results posted by May 30th.



Science Fiction, Science Fact

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I’m fresh off a two-hour tangent where I fell down a rabbit hole reading about physics.

Why, you ask? What could that possibly have to do with writing?

I love science fiction, as you may well know. Other planets, advanced technology… the principles of what we might learn and who we might become in the future fascinates me. But also, as a writer, when I write sci-fi, I feel I owe it to everyone to do some basic research.

Lately I’ve noticed a trend, especially in movies, where the facts become insanely diluted and delve so far into hand-waving that it literally takes me out of the fiction. Some rules are just rules. At a movie I saw this year featuring a popular action hero, I was shocked to see that he walked into Chernobyl wearing nothing but the clothing on his back and was completely unharmed by the experience. I simply know too much about how radiation works to believe that. It was a bad moment this year when I looked at a movie and said “this is dumb”. I turned to my husband and said “So where’s the epilogue where he dies of acute radiation poisoning?”

When it comes to my readers I never want to make bad science take them out of the fiction. Perhaps they’re mostly there for the romance and that’s not a problem, but they should at least be able to believe the story could happen, given a few advances in scientific and technological understanding.

I’m no genius. I didn’t go to college. Give me a page full of mathematic and algebraic equations and they’ll make a whooshing sound as they pass right over my head. But I do love to learn and understand the basic principles of how things work.

There are shortcuts that we all take. Sometimes it’s easy to look at TV and other media and work off of their understandings of how things work. Most fiction about space travel borrows from Star Trek’s warp drive and classic science fiction’s concepts of faster-than-light travel. I won’t say that my books don’t. Sometimes you need to get your character from Point A to Point B without inventing a while new method of space travel.

Yet there are also other times when learning about the actual science helps take the plot in a new, more realistic direction instead of borrowing ideas from media that has already distorted the science. I had an outline for the ending to the novel I was already working on, but something just didn’t seem right. When this happens, I usually go back to the science to make sure everything’s correct. Well, I was wrong in my beliefs about this specific concept. The truth about this particular phenomenon is highly distorted in fiction to the point that falsehoods have entered the culture as facts. In short, everything I believed is mostly incorrect.

Strangely, I’m happy about that. Why? I’ve thought up a whole new ending. One that keeps the core elements of the plan for my characters but sticks to the facts as we understand them. I have a few details to hammer out, but it’s a satisfying feeling to know that scientific fact is improving my book.

So that when you read it, you might just be able to believe not only the science, but the romance as well. For after all – what is love, if not a law of nature?

Review: Drama Queens With Love Scenes by Kevin Klehr

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Drama Queens With Love ScenesDrama Queens With Love Scenes by Kevin Klehr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Allan and Warwick find themselves in the Afterlife. They don’t know how they got there or how they died, but they soon settle in and meet new friends, including insecure angel Guy, playwright Pedro and failed 1950′s movie star Samantha. Drawn into the Limelight Quarter, they begin to act in a play penned by Pedro, and that’s where the drama begins. Warwick falls for Pedro and Allan finds himself jealous, as he’s harbored a long-time crush on his friend that he’s never found himself able to express. And when strange accidents start occurring at the theater, Allan thinks that perhaps somebody is out to get him…

There’s something about Drama Queens With Love Scenes that drew me in right away. Perhaps it was the nature of this version of the Afterlife where drinking, flirting and drama is the norm, or perhaps it was Allan’s witty insights on the strange things he sees that made me realize that Drama Queens With Love Scenes is like no other M/M romance I’ve ever read.

Told in first-person from Allan’s perspective, we get to see his take on the weird world of the Afterlife and his views and suspicions about the strange characters he meets along the way. Often funny and moving, I found the first-person perspective made the story more intimate than if it had been told in typical third-person narrative. The characters are all well fleshed out, with a strong supporting cast. We have Guy, the angel who can’t fly, Pedro, egotistical yet a poor playwright and of course Warwick, the object of Allan’s affections who can’t seem to make up his mind whether he loves Pedro or Allan.

As the drama unfolds, Allan grows as a person, learning to depend on himself and fight for what he wants out of life, earning Warwick’s love. The surprising conclusion was both heartwarming and a little sad, but this is no tragedy – we are left with the knowledge that both of these characters will end up living happily-ever-after.

If I had to make a complaint, I would say that the book needed one more round of polish. In general I found the phrasing and description excellent, but in the second half especially I started to notice some grammar errors (they’re instead of their, etc.). It wasn’t a huge distraction, but it could use another edit to hammer out those few mistakes. I did notice that my review copy is named Drama Queens rough draft, so these issues may have been fixed for the final version, but I can’t confirm that so I have to mention it in this review.

If you’re looking for a dramatic, campy take on the Afterlife with some sweet romance, drama and laugh-out-loud humor, I highly recommend Drama Queens With Love Scenes. The author states that he is working on a sequel, and I personally am looking forward to it. This was a wonderful read to light up a dismal weekend and comes highly recommended.



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Review: Junction X by Erastes

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Junction XJunction X by Erastes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To any stranger, it might appear as though Edward Johnson has the perfect life. He has an attractive wife, two children, a nice house in the suburbs and a comfortable job as a stockbroker. But he’s been lying to himself his whole life, a fact he realizes when his friend Phil makes sexual advances toward him. But it’s only when Edward gains new neighbors that he falls in love for the first time, becoming infatuated with their teenaged son, Alex, who returns his feelings with equal fervor. It’s a road that can only lead to disaster for Edward, but he’s powerless to control his emotions and his desires.

This is a book that I’ve wanted to read since it came out last year. I’m a sucker for a good tragedy, and Junction X definitely does not disappoint. It keeps the reader going with just the right amount of hope, even when one knows Alex and Edward have no chance of a happy ending. And when disaster strikes, it’s crushing and soul-wrenching in a way that rips your heart out with no mercy and then proceeds to step on it. You can’t help but feel sorry for Edward, even though his actions would be considered questionable even in today’s world. You can’t help but despair for Alex, who feels that young heartbreak that we’ve all endured at some point. And though the outcome is inevitable, the romance never seems pointless or irrelevant.

Junction X does a great job of building up to the end, never in a hurry, never racing to the finish line, and it’s the slow buildup of love and joy with fear ever present that makes Junction X the powerful read that it is. Erastes builds a life for Edward that is comfortable yet restricted, trapped in the expectations of the 1960s. You can easily see how someone like Alex could walk in and show Edward what he’s secretly wanted all his life and never been allowed to dream he could have. You can easily understand and relate to how Edward loses control of his sense of self-preservation, even as he tells lie after lie. I could never quite find it in myself to love Edward, yet I could never hate him either. Despite everything he does, I always felt like he was bound by forces beyond his control and never really deserved the cruelty that rains down upon him. Your view may differ, of course, but I found him to be more of a victim of his own emotions than a person acting out of maliciousness. Alex, of course, is a young man with the kind of spirit one loses in their middle age. I could see how Edward could become attracted to him. And while he is still young, I never got the feeling that he didn’t know what he was doing. Junction X could easily have felt like a novel about a sexual predator in the wrong hands, but Erastes puts the reader at ease by making sure Alex is mature for his age. It’s Alex who initiates sexual contact and pulls Edward down a path there’s no coming back from.

The story is told in first-person, which I found ideal. There’s a certain intimacy to a person relating their own story, and Edward’s assumptions as the narrator reveal an extra layer of his character. You can see things through his eyes, including the judgements he makes about others and his guesses as to where things start going downhill, as well as reflections on the things he wishes he’d done. Erastes is a genius in using the first person narrative not just as a stylistic choice but as a way for the character to reflect on the events and his actions when all is said and done. The story just wouldn’t be the same any other way.

The cover is excellent, conveying the sense of doom that grows through the novel and the theme of trains that is also featured. It makes a great change from the hordes of covers with two half-naked men on the cover. I was able to sneak this one into work without awkward questions.

I definitely recommend Junction X, but I will also at the same time say it’s not for everybody. Those looking for morality and decency in their characters might find the cheating and the fact of Alex’s youth makes Edward’s character unlikeable to them. It’s also an unapologetic tragedy. There are no silver linings to be found here, and those wanting to walk away with good feelings are in the wrong neighborhood. Junction X is about the destruction of two men, nothing less. Be sure you can handle it before you wade in.



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Review: Camilla by Tracy Sharp

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CamillaCamilla by T.J. Element

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Jo-Beth Shepherd happens upon a young woman about to jump into the river. She saves Camilla, though she’s spooked by her assertion that they know one another. They spend the night together, and in the morning Camilla is gone. Only she’s not gone. And she’s not alive. Instead her jealous spirit has tethered itself to Jo-Beth, and only by facing up to a tragic event in the past can she save her life in the present.

I received this short story when it was free on Amazon, and I have to say it was a most chilling read. Excellent descriptions really set the scene and the characters are well-fleshed out. Camilla is terrifying in her jealousy, striking out at a woman that Jo-Beth takes home, yet I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

This is a great lesbian ghost story, perfect for a read on any dark night. It’s fairly short but does a good job of making you feel nervous and unsettled. The only reason it didn’t earn a higher score is that I felt it could have been an amazing novel with more time spent on the tension and ramping up the fear that Camilla causes. I would have liked to have seen more of the attraction between Jo-Beth and her best friend, perhaps a deeper relationship between them. There’s also a character introduced at the end who we barely meet, and he could have used a little more time on-page. Still, Camilla is good for what it is and I recommend it to anyone looking for a lesbian horror story.



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Review: The Italian Connection 2 by Alex A. Akira

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The Italian Connection 2 (Dojo Boys, #5)The Italian Connection 2 by Alex A. Akira

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

The Italian Connection 2 starts where the first novel left off. Leaving his lover Julian Romano, Philippe finds himself in trouble when old nemesis Jun Watanabe chases him down. Jun wants the ultimate revenge – to break Philippe in body and spirit by selling his body to the Yakuza – but his employer Tanaka, rock singer Tommy Sear and Julian have other ideas.

If you liked the first novel, chances are you’ll like the second. The yaoi inspiration of the first novel is back again, with the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) working with Jun to get revenge on Phillipe. The action scenes are good, and the pace is pretty much breakneck through the whole novel, keeping the pages turning as we discover Tanaka’s clever plan to rescue Phillipe and Julian’s niece from their kidnapper. The ending was also much sweeter than I’d imagined, leaving this story on a very happy (if somewhat unrealistic) note.

The editing in this novel was better than the first, with only a few mistakes. I wasn’t particularly fond of the way the Yakuza men were constantly referred to as “Yaks”, since to me that seemed to make the Yakuza seem less intimidating than they had the potential to be, but otherwise it was a solid enough story with a firm happy-ever-after.

I’d definitely recommend this series to fans of Japanese anime and manga, who will appreciate the fact that while this is a contemporary series, it’s more about fantasy than reality. Those looking for realistic depictions of modern romance probably won’t find this to be their cup of tea, but for those of us who love the idea of a dance company fronting for a crime-fighting squad, it’s a solid, entertaining read. I would have liked to have seen more of Phillipe at work, but this is a romance novel at heart and the relationships are ultimately its focus.



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Review: Mourning Heaven by Amy Lane

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Mourning HeavenMourning Heaven by Amy Lane

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this book free as part of the Dreamspinner Press Valentine’s Day promotion. Thank you Dreamspinner!

Peter is abandoned by his mother and left to live with his aunt and cousin Michael in the small town of Daisy, California. Michael means the world to him, so when they both fall in love with the same man, Bodi Kovacs, Peter is okay with stepping aside as he knows Michael will take good care of Bodi. However, when tragedy strikes Bodi’s family, Michael and Bodi’s secret relationship is revealed and the entire town passes judgement on them. Michael flees, joining the military and leaving Bodi behind.

In the aftermath of Michael’s death, Peter and Bodi find themselves drawn together by the memory of a man they both admired and loved. It’s Peter’s turn to take care of Bodi now and give him the life that Michael wasn’t strong enough to fight for.

If you didn’t guess from the title, Mourning Heaven is one hell of a tear-jerker. The tale of Michael and Bodi’s destruction at the hands of small-town bigots left tears in my eyes many times, but it’s Bodi’s redemption that’s really the best part of this story. If the pain came without the payoff, this novel wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining but the conclusion is a satisfying one that makes the heartbreaking scenes worth crying for.

Peter comes into Bodi’s life and is determined to fix the damage Michael left in his wake. Peter’s a stronger man than Michael ever was and its very satisfying to see him stand up to his aunt and others who blamed Bodi and Michael for something that wasn’t their fault. Lane shows the good side but also the inherent flaws of most people – even Michael, the man that Peter held up on a pedestal, is far from perfect.

Mourning Heaven packs a strong emotional punch and isn’t for the weak-hearted. If you’re looking for fluff, this won’t be your game, but if you enjoy angst in spades you’ll find plenty to love here. Peter and Bodi love beating themselves up about Michael’s death and Daisy has plenty of hate for them, but their strength of nature and the healing power of love provide a good counterbalance. The setting and events are fully believable for small-town America, but some may find the insults and intolerance depicted a little too true-to-life.

I absolutely have to recommend a book that made me feel this strongly. I’ve read a lot of books and it’s pretty hard to make me cry at fiction these days, but Mourning Heaven had me reaching for the tissues with one hand as I turned the pages with the other. I was compelled to read on as I needed Bodi and Peter to find happiness and the ending certainly didn’t disappoint. Mourning Heaven was a powerful novel and one that I’ll definitely re-read in the future.

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Review: Aliens, Smith and Jones by Blaine D. Arden

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Aliens, Smith and JonesAliens, Smith and Jones by Blaine D. Arden

My rating: 3.5 stars

Noah is an alien who became trapped on Earth in the 1600s. Feeling a connection to a human for the first time in hundreds of years, he seeks out the man, only to find Connor is an agent for Primrose, an alien-tracking agency. Worse than that, Connor is already happy with a boyfriend at his side. But the link is something not easily broken. Will fate pull them together or will their special link fall by the wayside?

I’m a huge fan of the X-Files and had a time in my life where I was practically obsessed with anything alien. So I was quite excited to discover an alien-themed M/M romance novel. I received the paperback for Xmas and was really looking forward to reading Aliens, Smith and Jones.

However, for a novel that is one part mystery and one part romance, it only really succeeds at the romance. The bond between Connor and Noah is deep, intense and quite beautiful. Watching them become closer as they discover the nature of their connection is quite satisfying. The supporting cast is pretty strong and I especially loved Connor’s assistant, Isa, who is always trying to set Connor up with dates. I also liked reading about the work of the Primrose agency as they tracked down aliens.

Sadly, the mystery element of the novel is very predictable. I had figured out who the main villain was barely a quarter of the way into the book, and I was disappointed to discover I was not wrong. The novel lacks the usual misdirection required to fool the reader into believing someone else is possibly the villain. Without that, the answer is pretty obvious from the very beginning. With a limited cast, there are only a few people that could be at fault, and the clues were very easy to piece together.

Another drawback was how much of the action seemed to take place in the last five minutes. Everything wraps up at such breakneck speed that it’s almost impossible to process all of the required emotions at the huge events that unfold.

Despite my drawbacks, I still enjoyed Aliens, Smith and Jones. It just didn’t quite live up to my very high expectations for a novel of this type. It’s still a very good alien-flavored romance, and if that’s what you’re looking for you won’t be disappointed.

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Review: All My Crimes by Tal Valante

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All My CrimesAll My Crimes by Tal Valante

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Teregryn Eve is the king’s former right-hand man. Tortured during the war by the Elves, it’s taken him two years to recover. Now he’s returning to the King, his former lover, to warn him of an assassination attempt. But who could be after the King when the Elves have been wiped out?

All My Crimes took me a few pages to really get into what was going on. Told in flashbacks, it’s not the easiest story to follow. However, once it draws you in, it really packs an emotional sucker punch at its conclusion. I couldn’t help but feel for Teregryn and the terrible, impossible situation he was placed in.

I’d love to see more from this world where Elves are as cunning and sometimes cruel as the humans they fight. It was a fascinating take on usual fantasy tropes. I thought I’d stopped being surprised by fantasy long ago, but All My Crimes proves that there are still fresh stories to be told about Elves and humans at war.

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Review: Acclamation by Vee Hoffman

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Acclamation (Acclamation, #1)Acclamation by Vee Hoffman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Michael Cassidy moves to the small British town of Ashebrook after the death of his boyfriend. As a gay atheist working at a Catholic school, he keeps his sexuality and non-religion hidden in the closet. On one unremarkable day, a chance encounter with his neighbor’s son, Dominic Butler, leads to a friendship that will fill the hole in Michael’s life. Michael’s relationship with Dominic grows into something more as Dominic confesses his deepest secrets and desires. There’s one problem with Michael’s feelings; Dominic is only seventeen, and his student to boot. Dominic promises to wait until he is eighteen, and the two begin a deep, passionate and beautiful love affair in secret. But tragedy is always waiting just around the corner, and Dominic is about to have his life shaped by loss, a pain that Michael knows only too well.

Acclamation is hands-down the best novel I have read this year. It’s a story told with such breathtaking intimacy, such longing and wanting that my stomach coiled itself in knots just reading it. It’s rare for me to cry at a book, let alone at scenes that are not sad, but there were moments reading Acclamation where the sheer beauty of the thing overwhelmed me and I found tears springing to my eyes. The language is crafted with care, every word intentionally chosen and the book never seems to drag or pad itself out. Every scene is necessary to the book, and it is never gratuitous in its use of sex scenes.

You might worry, based on my description, that Dominic being seventeen at the start could mean this is a tale of coercion or abuse. Let me tell you that this is absolutely not the case. Dominic is an old soul, a man wise beyond his years, despite his lack of sexual experience. Michael and Dominic are equals in the relationship that grows between them, despite Dominic being far younger than Michael.

If you want chemistry in a relationship, if you’re looking for a book packed with longing and wanting that doesn’t race to the finish line, Acclamation will be a rare and fine treat for you. This is the kind of book that reminds me why I fell in love with M/M romance in the first place. It’s not a porno with a pretty cover, or a lackluster story of going through the motions in a relationship. It’s a story about love, loss and longing that will leave you reeling when you reach the novel’s powerful conclusion. The next book is on my must-read list. Acclamation is a rare gem, a tale packed with real emotion that will keep you thinking and feeling about its characters long after you’ve turned the last page.

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